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Giants
- Rams
1999 Game 14 - 1PM ET
Who
are these Rams?
If
you think they came from nowhere, you're right
They
are the first team in NFL history to go undefeated in their
division a year after going totally winless in division play.
That's right, they went from 0-8 to 8-0 by beating all the
teams in their division.
The Rams have already won the NFC West. Their two big problems
now are getting that home field advantage, and the respect
they deserve. It's been said that the only reason the Rams
are 11-2 is because of the easy schedule they had against
weaker teams.
Of course, beating the Giants this week would be a no-win
for them in that argument, but it would gain them the field
advantage they desire.
Not to short change the Rams with this short paragraph, most
all of their current accomplishments are noted later on.
Back
to the respect thing
The
Rams have 34 touchdown passes this season, which is 2 more
than the Giants have in the past two years combined.
Still, judging from the message boards, it really bothers
the Rams fans when the "weaker team schedule" thing
is pointed out. I posted this message about it on the Giant
Insider Message board.
Title
was, "No
respect for the Rams!"
In
an earlier post by an annoyed Rams fan, it was mentioned on
MNF that the Rams have played either the 2nd or 3rd easiest
schedule in NFL history. - He had a right to be annoyed.
Anybody stop to think that when a powerhouse team blasts through
the season, they are the ones making their own schedule look
easier?
The Rams dished out 11 losses to date adding that to their
opponents loss columns, maybe even showing other teams the
way to beat the teams they faced...
The Giants are in a different situation. If they beat a team,
that team will blame themselves for the loss, feeling that
it must have been poor performance on their part.
When the Giants beat the Jets who had strung wins together
against the Cards, Patriots and Bills before dropping a close
one to the surging Colts, everyone said that It was because
the Jets had given up on the season.
Guess what? The "give up" Jets came back last week to beat
the Dolphins.
When the Giants beat the Bills, using former practice players
to fill in for Sehorn and Sparks against a returning Thurman
Thomas, Andre Reede and scrambling Doug Flutie - It was because
the Bills made some bad play calls, and their kicker had a
bad day.
Respect is hard to come by in the NFL.
The Rams are 11-2 and should be proud, but people try to take
it away from them by stating that they had an easy schedule.
If the Giants go on to beat the Rams, I'm sure we'll hear
it was because the Rams didn't need the game, having already
won the NFC West, and the Rams just didn't take the Giants
seriously enough.
That's OK, and we'll take the win if it's there, but you guys
should at least know to toss the Giants some respect as well.
BTW - If the Rams win against the Giants, a resurgent team
that never lets up for a full 60 minutes of hard fought football,
your detractors will still say - "So what, it was the Giants."
The Rams will have however, earned my respect and that of
other knowledgeable NY Giants fans.
BTW - The top message board for the Rams is The
Rams Herd Board.
The
Rams letdown factor
Will
the Rams let down for this game? They only need one of the
next three to get their home field advantage. It was strange
last week that they allowed the Saints, who had lost 4 straight
games, and 11 of their last 12, take a 14-7 lead in the 2nd
quarter.
That might not seem like such a big thing, but consider that
the Rams have outscored their opponents 249-117 in the first
half this season.
Anyway, in that game last week, the Rams regrouped, turned
it on after that, and easily won the game 30-14.
Still, you have to wonder how committed they will be to this
game against the Giants, how much they will put their prime
quarterback at risk if things get tough with even easier opposition
than then Giants to follow in the two weeks after. (Chicago
5-8, Eagles 3-11).
Less
is more
Dick
Vermeil, head coach of the 11-2 Rams, used to do a lot more
when he coached the Philadelphia Eagles.
"I used to be more active in the X's and O's when I was in
Philadelphia.", he says, "I was running my whole
offense, coaching my own quarterbacks, calling my own plays
and that kind of stuff.
Now, as president of football operations and head football
coach, I'm not into the X's and O's anymore."
Are you listening Jim Fassel? Maybe he has. The team has had
nothing but success since Sean Payton has been doing the play
calling.
We
got emails that people wanted this repeated so here it is
again.
Some What Ifs.
What
if - Fassel had decided to let Sean Payton call all the games
this season after seeing what a good job he did calling against
Minnesota in that preseason game?
What if - Sean Payton called all the games Kent Graham played
in?
What if - Kerry Collins was awarded the starting position
at the start of the season?
What if - Gary Brown fell off his bicycle at an early age,
decided never to ride a motorcycle, and was healthy for the
1999 season?
What if - The Giants win all the rest of the games to finish
10-6?
The
Playoff picture
The
Giants are 7-6, and the Redskins are 8-5.
The Giants can't win any head to head tie breakers with Washington
because they were swept by them.
The
easy way to the playoffs is, of course, if the Giants win
the last three games, which would make them a wild card, and
they could even win the NFC East if the Redskins drop two
of their three remaining games against Indianapolis, San Francisco,
and Miami.
Assuming that doesn't happen, it's a bit more complicated.
The
Giants, Cowboys, Vikings and Packers right now are tied for
the final two wild-card spots.
Minnesota and Green Bay play each other Monday night, so one
will lose, except for a tie.
If
the Giants lose to the Rams, they probably can edge into the
playoffs by beating the Vikings at home and the Cowboys on
the road in their final two games.
This
week Redskins face a motivated Colts team that can clinch
the AFC East with a victory over them, and the Colts are trying
to get home field straight through the playoffs.
This
week the Cowboys face the Jets, and if the Jets beat Dallas
at Texas Stadium, it certainly will help. It's the Jets first
trip to Texas Stadium since Dec. 4, 1971, six weeks after
it opened.
Dallas is 6-0 at home and finish up this season with a game
at Texas Stadium against the Giants on Jan 2.
What's
working right for the Giants
The
Giants have finally gotten the offense on track with the passing
and running game, and some good play calling.
In the first 9 games - The offense averaged 290.5 yards.
In the last 4 games - The offense averaged 364.5 yards.
Giants
9-0 in December under head coach Jim Fassel.
Giants
QB Kerry Collins has In the past 4 games, averaged 275.0 yards
through the air.
Giants QB Kerry Collins has passed for 879 yards and 5 TDs in
last 3 games.
Giants QB Kerry Collins passed for 341 yards two weeks ago against
the Jets and 240 more last week against the Bills.
Giants never had more than two players with 50 or more catches
in one season.
This season, they have three players, Toomer (59), Ike Hilliard
(57) and Mitchell (53). Tiki Barber could also finish with
over 50.
Giant
fans will see a new player set foot on the field, Jose Cortez.
While Cary Blanchard is doing a great job in Brad Daluiso's
place as far as field goals go (13-of-14), his short kickoffs
put the Giants defense in the hole.
Jose Cortez, who was cut by the Chargers after four preseason
games, has the ability to get the ball deeper and with more
hang time.
If he can do the job, the Giants will bring a good running,
passing and special teams game with them for the first time
to face the favored Rams at home.
Last
week Doug Flutie's 12 yard scramble was the only rush of more
than 10 yards allowed in the past three games.
Bills
lost to the Giants last week even though:
Bills were 3-0 against the Giants since the Super Bowl XXV
loss in 1991.
Bills
had won the last 10 games vs. NFC East teams.
Bills
defense was ranked 3rd in the league against the rush, 2nd
against the pass and 2nd overall.
Notes
Each of Fassel's seasons has ended with a different No. 1
quarterback than the one that started the season.
In 1997, Dave Brown was replaced by Danny Kanell.
Last year, Kanell was replaced by Kent Graham.
This year, Graham was replaced by Kerry Collins.
Rams
spent the first 9 years of this decade losing 10 or more games
8 times, including records of 5-11 and 4-12 the past two seasons
under Dick Vermeil.
Rams
are 0-2 against teams that currently have a winning record,
but both losses were on the road.
Rams
QB Kurt
Warner has club-record 7 300-yard games in 1999.
Rams
Kurt Warner is the top ranked QB in the NFL with a QB rating
of 111.3. He has 3,559 yards,
34 TDs, and a
66.4 completion percentage, which are all league highs.
Rams
Kurt Warner has
thrown 9 more TD passes than anyone else, and 10 more than
Peyton Manning.
Rams
Kurt Warner has
34 touchdown passes, which already is the 10th highest total
for a single season in league history.
He could become only the second QB, along with Dan Marino,
to throw for 40 or more touchdowns in a season.
Marino holds the record with 47 TD passes.
Rams
Kurt Warner
has completed 73.8% of his 3rd down passes, 14 for touchdowns.
Last week, Warner
completed 21 of 31 passes for 346 yards and 2 TDs.
Rams are No. 1 in the NFL in passing yards per game at 264.2
and their 3rd down conversion rate is a high 49 percent.
Rams
average 36 points at home. Their opponents average 10.3.
Rams
Isaac Bruce has caught 71 passes for 1,081 yards and 11 TDs.
Last
week, Isaac Bruce reached 1,000 yards receiving with 4 receptions
for 102 yards,
and Torry Holt caught 6 passes for 113 yards.
Rams
RB
Marshall
Faulk has 221 carries for 1,180 yards rushing, a 5.3 average,
and has caught 66 passes for 720 yards and 3 TDs.
Last week, Faulk
scored 2 TDs and rushed for 154 yards.
Rams
Marshall Faulk has 4 consecutive 100-yard games.
Rams
rookie Tony Horne is
averaging 32.4 yards a shot and has run 2 back for TDs. He
is
the NFL's leading kick return man.
Rams
average drive starts at the 31.4 yard line after kickoffs.
That leads the NFL also.
Rams lead the NFL in rushing defense (77.1 yards per game).
This is helped in part by the Rams awesome offense, which
forces other teams to give up on the run early because they
are way behind on points.
Rams
defense has 6 INTs in last 2 games.
Rams
DE
Kevin
Carter, leads the NFL with 14 sacks.
Giants
have scored fewer than 21 points eight times this year.
The Rams have not scored under 21 points this season.
Giants
have scored 248 points in total regulation time.
Rams have scored 249 points in first halves alone.
Rams
never had a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and two 100-yard
receivers in the same game until two weeks ago.
Giants never
had a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and two 100-yard receivers
in the same game until two weeks ago.
Rams have now done it two weeks in a row.
Next
week
The Giants play Minnesota at home on Sunday Dec 26, at 1 PM.
The Rams play Chicago at home on Sunday Dec 26, at 1 PM.
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Previous
Stories
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1999
NFC EAST - Week 14
|
| Team |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
PF |
PA |
Home |
Away |
AFC |
NFC |
DIV |
Streak |
Washington |
8 |
5 |
0 |
.615 |
375 |
323 |
5-2 |
3-3 |
1-1 |
7-4 |
5-3 |
W1 |
NY Giants |
7 |
6 |
0 |
.538 |
254 |
267 |
4-3 |
3-3 |
2-2 |
5-4 |
3-4 |
W2 |
Dallas |
7 |
6 |
0 |
.538 |
281 |
205 |
6-0 |
1-6 |
1-2 |
6-4 |
4-3 |
W1 |
Arizona |
6 |
7 |
0 |
.462 |
186 |
265 |
4-3 |
2-4 |
0-3 |
6-4 |
5-3 |
L1 |
Philadelphia |
3 |
11 |
0 |
.214 |
210 |
317 |
2-4 |
1-7 |
0-3 |
3-8 |
2-5 |
L4 |
|
The 1998 Roster